Americans should never have to choose between paying for lifesaving medicine and putting food on the table, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson told Newsmax on Wednesday.
Carson, senior adviser to the Make America Healthy Again movement, said the United States must end a system where Americans subsidize drug prices for the rest of the world.
On "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE," Carson said Americans have long borne the brunt of high pharmaceutical costs while other nations benefit from lower prices.
"Well, of course it is," Carson said when asked about recent reports of steep drug price reductions being negotiated. "I mean, for a very long time, Americans have paid much more than their share for these medicines. It costs a lot of money to develop the medications.
"There's no question about that. But other countries get 20-to-80% off of what we pay, and we find our citizens in the store saying, Should I shell out all this money for this medication to keep myself healthy? Or should I buy groceries for my family? We shouldn't be in that position because we do most of the research."
His comments follow Pfizer's agreement to align its U.S. drug prices with those in other developed nations, in response to President Donald Trump's July 31 letter calling for parity in the cost of prescription drugs.
While Carson said he does not oppose helping poorer nations, he stressed that Americans should not be forced to cover the costs.
"I don't have a problem with the subsidization, but it should be equitable. And the drug companies are making enormous amounts of money. I mean, you don't have to really feel sorry for them," he said.
"They can subsidize some of these other countries on their own. It's a good thing to do, because a lot of those people in those countries have very little in the way of money. I agree we should help them, but it shouldn't be on the back of American taxpayers who are working very hard just to put food on their table."
Carson, who was recently named senior nutrition and housing adviser by the president, said pharmaceutical companies are unlikely to back out of agreements to reduce costs.
"They're making a deal with a dealmaker," he said. "President Trump is a dealmaker. And if they renege on the deal, I bet they'll be sorry for it. And they know that. So they're not going to renege on it. They have too many people watching them."
Carson also highlighted the need to reduce reliance on China for medical supplies.
"We need to have our critical medical supplies produced in this country. That's all there is to it," he said.
"There is no one else that we can trust except ourselves when it comes to that, particularly knowing how quickly things can change. So that's really a very urgent situation. President Trump recognizes that and has the tariffs tied into that to try to force the right thing to happen."
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.